CEOs from a number of leading American corporations jointly confirmed Sunday the need for the U.S. to invest in education and innovation in order for the country to remain a worldwide market competitor.

Appearing on the CNN show Fareed Zakaria GPS, the CEOs of Google, Coca Cola, IBM and Alcoa cited the increasing dominance of low-cost industrial nations such as China and India as a threat to America's dominance in innovative technologies. To combat the rising threat, the corporate leaders argued that the U.S. should spend more on innovation research, development and education.

"The real problem we have now is we have other countries that are copying us - Singapore, Korea, China and so forth, that have very directive industrial policies around sectors," said Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

The CEOs maintained that the U.S. still holds its place as the torchbearer for entrepreneurship, patent filings and innovative technologies - referencing post-World War II innovation as an ideal complex of government-industrial policy.

"America and the American dream are still very much alive. The foundation is there," said Alcoa CEO Klaus Kleinfeld. "Currently we have a scientific revolution going on like we have not seen before."

The sense of national urgency the business leaders are pushing for has been reflected in a flourishing of new information technologies designed to manage innovation and intellectual property.